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True Detective HBO Series Season 1 Review

True Detective is the latest and greatest HBO Original series. One of my best friends sent me a message that I absolutely must create the True Detective HBO TV Series Discussion. I respect his opinion so much that I did it immediately. I didn’t even realize it was the series with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. I had seen commercials sporadically throughout the fall but did not put two and two together. Sometimes I am a bit slow. That is another story for another time. This resource will document the first season of True Detective show by show.

Episode 6 – Haunted Houses – February 23rd, 2014

Can this show get any better? I cannot believe there are only two episodes left. In all reality, episode 6 explained a lot but still left us with more questions. We now know that Marty and his wife are divorced. Most of that has to do with the fact that Marty cannot get over his young college girls. The fact that his wife slept with Rust did not help either. One of the more memorable scenes of the first season will be the fight between Rust and Marty outside the police station.

We have also learned that the two detectives researching the current case have not a clue. Rust, Marty and Marty’s wife have all lied to them and they are out of the loop. I assume they will not come into play later in the season, but who knows. Rust is clearly the smartest of the bunch as he has the case pegged on Tuttle. His conversation with Tuttle at the seminary was classic. It is quite obvious that Tuttle has something to do with the murdered women and children but we don’t know what exactly.

Religion plays a big part in the Haunted Houses episode as well. Marty’s wife mention that he found religion for a little while and she didn’t like it because he lost his sense of humor. There were also a few jabs by Rust about religion including an interview with the preacher from the great scene in episode 3. I will add some more to this review later but now it is time for Shameless. For those wondering, Beth was played by Lili Simmons and here is her Twitter account. She was also the TMobile employee which is where she first started her interactions with Marty. She had some “special” lines in the episode. I recently read she was also “who Hart gave some money to, a charitable gesture that sparked a prophetical smart-ass remark from Cohle about a down payment for a future fling.”

Episode 5 – The Secret Fate of All Life – February 16th, 2014

Wow! I have two questions that have to be answered ASAP:

Could Rust Cohle really be the killer? No way!

Who the hell is the Yellow King?

Tonight’s episode was amazing. We learn so much more about the time frame between Rust and Marty being interviewed and the murders. I was honestly shocked to find that just 25 minutes into the 5th episode Rust and Marty ended up catching and killing Reggie LeDoux. What is interesting is the fact that they had to adjust their story from the truth. I am convinced this is why Marty and Rust end up having a falling out. That and the fact that is looks as if Rust and Marty’s wife could have a possible affair.

Another interesting tidbit from the 5th show is the sudden change in Marty’s oldest daughter. One of my friends actually brought up the point that Marty’s daughter may be one of those involved in the present day crime. Heck, she may have been the one that was murdered or attacked in the present day crime. There are still so many questions to be answered. There are going to be a number of “OH MY GOD” moments in the next three shows. I just hate that the first season is only going to be eight episodes.

Music in Episode 5:

The Handsome Family – Far From Any Road
Kris Kristofferson – Casey’s Last Ride
The Kinks – Tired of Waiting for You
Bosnian Rainbows – Eli

Episode 4 – Who Goes There – February 9th, 2014

Who Goes There was a very interesting episode. Marty was very unkind to his “college girl” so she ends up calling his wife and telling her everything about his affair. This forces the wife to kick Marty out. Marty storms into the hospital to talk to his wife, who is a nurse, and we find out that he wants his marriage back. There will be many more developments on this front.

Just when you think Rust Cohle cannot get any more heartless he finds a way to do so. The last 20 minutes of the show involved Rust getting into a drug dealing situation. He was doing it only to find out where Ledoux is cooking his crystal meth. We also learn that Rust has strong relationships with many people in the drug trade in Louisiana and Texas. It is quite obvious Rust has been around the block a time or two as he has no concerns when it comes to taking strong drugs.

As the show concludes we are left wondering how Rust and Marty are going to get information from a drug dealer. They are doing this off duty which is going to cause even more problems down the road. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out but I think we can all guess that Rust and Marty are going to get in trouble with their superiors. In my opinion, that is why they are being interviewed in the present time. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

Episode 3 – The Locked Room – January 26th, 2014

The third episode was amazing. There were so many great scenes that I cannot even begin to describe them all. Please take the time to watch this four minute scene as it relates to religion in the south:

Having grown up in the south I know all about the craziness of preachers and priests trying to get a few dollars from their parishoners. I won’t go into a religion rant as Rust Cohle does that enough. Not only to we learn more about Rust’s lack of emotion but we learn that Marty feels as if he is in love with two women. He sees his “college girl” at the bar with another guy and he gets very jealous. He is so head over heels for this young women that he jeopardizes his marriage by talking to her at the bar. I am sure this will escalate as the show moves forward.

As we conclude the third episode we find out that a Ledoux is the one Rust and Marty are after. They send out an all points bulletin and they are racing to find out more about the situation with this man. The preview for next week is crazy as an elephant looking man with a mask on is walking out of a shed. He is only wearing tighty whities (underwear). Next week’s show is going to be crazy!

Episode 2 – Seeing Things – January 19th, 2014

The second episode of True Detective was even better than the first. This is going to be a series that goes viral very soon as word is going to spread about how great the acting is. In the episode #2 we learn much more about Martin Hart (Harrelson). He has a propensity for young women, who doesn’t?, which is causing his marriage to fall apart. This episode truly brings out the nudity and sexual content. Not only does Martin Hart go to a “college girl’s” apartment to get some action but we learn about the prostitution going on in the area.

The young woman that plays the “college girl” in the second episode is going to get plenty of publicity over the next few days. I will just say that she is not ugly and leave it at that. I have a sneaky suspicion that something bad is going to play out with her in relation to the killer in this HBO Original Series. After some research I found out the college girl that has sex with Hart in the second episode is Alexandra Daddario and her name is Lisa Tragnetti on the show. IMDB tells us that she is going to be in a few shows in the future including next week.

Something that we did not see as much of in the second episode was the interview process in present time. Only about a quarter of the show was devoted to the African American detectives interviewing Martin and Rust about the current case. In fact, there was no mention of the current case at all.

We are starting to see and hear glimpses of many one liners and quotes from this show. A classic quote from the “boss” was “How many ways can I say shut the fuck up?” to Rust when they were in the office discussing how much longer they can continue the case. It is quite obvious that Hart is the only reason Rust Cohle is still employed and on this case. There is a very unusual relationship between the two as shown when Cohle calls out Hart for hooking up with the college girl.

Cohle is very aware of his surroundings and points out the many reasons he knows that Hart was not sleeping with his wife and someone else. This was the first physical confrontation between the two in the series. I would imagine we are going to get to see a few more confrontations moving forward. I absolutely cannot wait until next weeks show. If you are very conservative when it comes to sex, drugs and rock & roll this is probably not the series for you. Speaking of, Shameless has me hooked lately as well so I am off to watch that. Until next Sunday night.

Music in Episode 2:

John Lee Hooker – Unfriendly Woman
John Lee Hooker – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Vashti Bunyan – The Train Song
The McIntosh County Shouters with Underscore by T Bone Burnett – Sign of the Judgment
Reverend C.J. Johnson & Family – You Better Run to the City of Refuge
Steve Earle – Meet Me in the Alleyway
Cuff the Duke – If I Live or Die
The 13th Floor Elevators – Kingdom of Heaven

Episode 1 – The Long Bright Dark – January 12th, 2014

The first episode was a true depiction of the south. I was raised in a very small, religious town in the south and I can attest to how things are quite different in these areas. The thing that will stick with me about the beginning of this show is trying to place to pieces together. The timeline can be a bit confusing as Rust (Rustin) Cohle is being interviewed today about the murder he was investigating years ago. The same is true of his former partner, Martin Hart. It is quite obvious they are no longer in contact.

I am left wondering if Rust is being investigated for the current murder. He is being recorded by two investigators throughout the pilot episode so we are lead to believe he has a checkered past. Or does he? We also find out that his former partner, Martin, does not have the best opinion of Rust. The most gripping part of episode 1 is the difference in the appearance of Rust. In present time he looks drugged out and out of touch with reality. During the investigation he looks like a clean cut, younger investigator. Obviously, a lot has happened between the two investigations. We are left with the question, “what the hell happened to Rust?”

I absolutely love this show because it depicts life in the south. I was raised in North Carolina and I grew up in an area where the sheriff would have mounted dear heads on the wall in his office. I was also from an area where everything was centered around religion. Throughout the entire first episode we were reminded of the importance of religion in the small Louisiana town. There was a scene in which Rust and Martin interview the preacher of a predominantly black congregation. There were also several mentions of an “anti religious” war going on in the area.

Coming from a small town, I can relate to many of the problems these two investigators are going to face when researching this case. When visiting the small town sheriff Martin cannot believe some of the investigations have been swept under the rug. Most of the murders or crimes have stayed local. Once again, this does not surprise me coming from a small town.

The way episode 1 ended was fabulous. The Long Bright Dark ended with the investigators of the current case showing Rust the photo. There were many similarities in the case he “solved” and the current case. The detectives want to know how it could be the same killer if he was arrested so many years ago. Rust finishes the show by saying something to the affect of, “Ask the right questions.” It is going to get even better from here on out.

Music in Episode 1:

The Handsome Family – Far From Any Road
Bob Dylan – Rocks and Gravel
The McIntosh County Shouters – Sign of the Judgment
The Black Angels – Young Men Dead

How HBO is Using Social Media to Promote True Detective

As mentioned earlier, one of my friends sent me a text to remind me about the season premiere on January 12th, 2014. Even if he had not done so there is a good chance I would have noticed Twitter users and other social media users talking about this show. In fact, before the Carolina Panthers vs San Francisco 49ers playoff football game I hoped on Twitter to see what was going on. There was a “promoted tweet” by HBO that read:

Notice that I do not follow the HBO Twitter account yet I still saw this tweet in my stream. Over the course of 2014 and into 2015 I expect most major TV networks to start using promoted tweets much more. It makes sense as Twitter owns the second screen. I will be very interested to see how HBO uses Twitter right before, during and after the show tonight.

Although I was not a fan of Under the Dome they did work very hard to promote the show on Twitter. They had each member of the cast tweeting and talking about the show while it was live. The actors and actresses know what is going to happen so it only makes sense that they would build the anticipation of a specific scene. I know Twitter almost broke when the famous Game of Thrones scene happened on HBO. Hopefully we will have a few of those moments during the True Detective TV series as well. Have you noticed people discussing TV shows on social media? Have you seen any behind the scenes accounts that are must follows? Feel free to comment below.